PUEBLO, Colo. — A homeless man who was held down and beaten last fall by two men claiming to make a citizen’s arrest has filed a lawsuit against the men.
An attorney for Alex Montoya served Doug and Nate Cullison with that lawsuit this week, when the father and son appeared in court for a first appearance on second-degree assault charges relating to the beating.
Video of that incident went viral earlier this year and prompted Pueblo Police to reopen its investigation into the case. The owner of the video sent it to the police department days after the beating, but the police chief later admitted an officer couldn’t get the video to work and never followed up with the owner.
“We’re asserting to claims of outrageous conduct, false imprisonment and battery,” Montoya’s attorney Shawn Conti told 9NEWS on Saturday. “Over the past seven or eight months, Mr. Montoya’s faith in the justice system has been shaken. And he has suffered irreparable harm because of this.”
The video, recorded from a Pueblo ice cream shop, shows Montoya walking down the sidewalk when he’s approached by Doug Cullison. In the video, Cullison is seen wrestling Montoya to the ground and holding him down while an unidentified man punches him in the face.
Moments later, Cullison’s son, Nate, pulls up on scene, runs across the parking lot and kicks Montoya in the head. Nate Cullison is then seen on video punching Montoya like a punching bag. The father and son then hold Montoya on the ground until Pueblo Police arrive.
Cullison told officers at the scene that his wife, a teacher at a nearby elementary school, called him and said Montoya had punched her and spit at her. He said he tracked Montoya down and he and his son held him there until police arrived. When police asked about Montoya’s visible injuries, Cullison told the officer Montoya must have scraped his head when he was taken to the ground and never mentioned the beating.
Outside of court, a defense attorney for the father and son told 9NEWS’ partner station KRDO that he plans to point to what isn’t on camera: what happened to Cullison’s wife down the street.
“He knocked her down,” said defense attorney Joe Koncilja. “She had to jump into the the car of another teacher that was there.”
“I understand in a perfect world, you know, people don’t act violently. But quite frankly, if you spit on my 51-year-old mother and you knocked her down, you’re going to get an ass kicking. I don’t care what the law says," Koncilja said.
Conti called Koncilja’s statement "obnoxious.”
“Under using that rationale, is it OK if one gang banger shoots another gang banger?” Conti said. “Does that mean that it’s OK for his family to go and retaliate? Absolutely not.”
On the scene the day of the incident, police cited Montoya with municipal battery. That case has since been dismissed and the district attorney charged Montoya with third-degree assault for allegedly hitting Cullison’s wife before he was beaten.
A police report from that case says Cullison’s wife told officers Montoya was hanging out near an entrance to the school charging his phone and smoking. She said she and other school staff told him to leave but he became combative. She claims Montoya spit at her and hit her in the face.
“I feel that Mr. Montoya is being cheated,” Conti said. “The day of the incident, the officer generated maybe a one paragraph report. He only got some brief statements from Mrs. Cullison.”
“After this story broke, she called the DA’s office and said I’d like to come in and give a statement," Conti said. "She had seven months to think about her statement. And her statement was given after, it was pretty obvious that her husband and her son were facing charges.”
The cases against Montoya and the Cullisons are working their way through the court system.
I get an ‘access denied’ error when trying to click the link.
Hmm, not sure why - here’s the article text:
PUEBLO, Colo. — A homeless man who was held down and beaten last fall by two men claiming to make a citizen’s arrest has filed a lawsuit against the men.
An attorney for Alex Montoya served Doug and Nate Cullison with that lawsuit this week, when the father and son appeared in court for a first appearance on second-degree assault charges relating to the beating.
Video of that incident went viral earlier this year and prompted Pueblo Police to reopen its investigation into the case. The owner of the video sent it to the police department days after the beating, but the police chief later admitted an officer couldn’t get the video to work and never followed up with the owner.
“We’re asserting to claims of outrageous conduct, false imprisonment and battery,” Montoya’s attorney Shawn Conti told 9NEWS on Saturday. “Over the past seven or eight months, Mr. Montoya’s faith in the justice system has been shaken. And he has suffered irreparable harm because of this.”
The video, recorded from a Pueblo ice cream shop, shows Montoya walking down the sidewalk when he’s approached by Doug Cullison. In the video, Cullison is seen wrestling Montoya to the ground and holding him down while an unidentified man punches him in the face.
Moments later, Cullison’s son, Nate, pulls up on scene, runs across the parking lot and kicks Montoya in the head. Nate Cullison is then seen on video punching Montoya like a punching bag. The father and son then hold Montoya on the ground until Pueblo Police arrive.
Cullison told officers at the scene that his wife, a teacher at a nearby elementary school, called him and said Montoya had punched her and spit at her. He said he tracked Montoya down and he and his son held him there until police arrived. When police asked about Montoya’s visible injuries, Cullison told the officer Montoya must have scraped his head when he was taken to the ground and never mentioned the beating.
Outside of court, a defense attorney for the father and son told 9NEWS’ partner station KRDO that he plans to point to what isn’t on camera: what happened to Cullison’s wife down the street.
“He knocked her down,” said defense attorney Joe Koncilja. “She had to jump into the the car of another teacher that was there.”
“I understand in a perfect world, you know, people don’t act violently. But quite frankly, if you spit on my 51-year-old mother and you knocked her down, you’re going to get an ass kicking. I don’t care what the law says," Koncilja said.
Conti called Koncilja’s statement "obnoxious.”
“Under using that rationale, is it OK if one gang banger shoots another gang banger?” Conti said. “Does that mean that it’s OK for his family to go and retaliate? Absolutely not.”
On the scene the day of the incident, police cited Montoya with municipal battery. That case has since been dismissed and the district attorney charged Montoya with third-degree assault for allegedly hitting Cullison’s wife before he was beaten.
A police report from that case says Cullison’s wife told officers Montoya was hanging out near an entrance to the school charging his phone and smoking. She said she and other school staff told him to leave but he became combative. She claims Montoya spit at her and hit her in the face.
“I feel that Mr. Montoya is being cheated,” Conti said. “The day of the incident, the officer generated maybe a one paragraph report. He only got some brief statements from Mrs. Cullison.”
“After this story broke, she called the DA’s office and said I’d like to come in and give a statement," Conti said. "She had seven months to think about her statement. And her statement was given after, it was pretty obvious that her husband and her son were facing charges.”
The cases against Montoya and the Cullisons are working their way through the court system.